User:Wiisixtyfour/Smartphone charging speed hack

Samsung fast charging hack: Manually applied elevated voltage might significantly speed up charging during operation.

Caution
The following hack was tested with several Samsung mobile phones that support Qualcomm Quick Charge 2.0. It should only be tested with smartphones that support Qualcomm Quick Charge 2.0 or higher.

If you lack basic understanding of electronics and its terminology (i.e. voltage; polarity), I disrecommend you from trying this.

It is not dangerous per se (I myself do this on a regular basis, and have never caused any damage), but still: Leave it alone if you have poor understanding of it.

- Samsung phones with Qualcomm Quick Charge 2.0 released between 2014 (Note 4) and 2018 (S9, Note 9) significantly throttle down charging (from 15W down to 6W total power throughput, i.e. to both battery and other components) while the device is being operated. This throttling is manually requested by the operating system, regarding that the throttling only kicks in around half a minute after the booting of the device is completed. This appears to be regulated via the file, which is linked from the more memorable. With root access, one may be able to edit that file, but this guide assumes that many smartphone users lack root access. The firmware appears to apply a higher value to that file if the external voltage is elevated manually rather than through the quick charge protocol.

As an exception, the Note 4 apparently throttles to around 8 to 9 W instead of 6 W, but more recent phones (S6, Note 5, S7, Note 7, S8, Note 8, S9, Note 9) throttle to 6 W.

I have observed that applying the elevated voltage of 9V manually (anything above 7V should work, but 9 Volts are recommended), which can be done through a two-port KW203 USB multimeter (port 1 (data lanes pass through): Quick Charge Tester for voltage request, port 2 (shorted data lanes): connect phone) significantly boosts charging while the screen is on. Said device can be used to request the 9 volts from the Qualcomm Quick Charge-enabled USB charger.

Now, the power throughput while the screen is on doubles to around 10 to 12 Watts. About twice as high.

However, power throughput while the screen is off slows down from 15 to around 12 watts. But the power benefit during operation would often have outweighed it. The manually applied voltage is a hidden additional option.

I found this out in 2018 or 2019 (not sure if I have already shared it somewhere), but if only I knew this in 2016. This could have spared me headaches.

This hack might also work with other mobile phone models which support Qualcomm Quick Charge 2.0 and/or MediaTek Pump Express [do not try it with phones that support neither of these]. If anyone has tested it, feel free to share it in a comment.